Relief-valve for oil-cans



H. B. MILLER. RELIEF VALVE FOR OIL CANS.

APPLICATION HLED AUG. 7, 1920- Patented Oct. 11, 1921.

Qhuentar Harry .B. M/l/en Wttdrng To all whom may concern warren er ires A PATENT OFFICE.

' HARRY 1B. MILLER, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YGEEt-K, ASSIGNOJR, OF ONE-HALF TO SAUL KAUFEMAN, GE SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

RELIEFVALVE FOR OIL-GANS.

incense.

Be it known that I, HARRY E. lviInL-nn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga and State of New York, have inve ted certain new and useful improvements in Relief- Valves for Oil-Cans, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in relief valves, designed for use in connection with oil-cans, and the like, and has for its object to provide, novel, simple and efi'ec tive means for relieving or destroying the vacuum which forms in certain makes of cans, and which interferes with the proper working of the cans. A further object is to provide the caps of the cans with springcontrolled valves of delicate tension, which are arranged to open whenever the air in the cans becomes rarefied sufficiently to hinder the free discharge of the contents of the cans.

This invention relates particularly to an improvement of the devices shown and described in my pending application, Serial No. 349,502, filed January 5, 1920.

The various features and parts of the invention will be understood from the detailed description which follows, and by reference to the accompai'iying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a broken elevational view of an oil-can to which my improvement is ap plied. Fig. 2 is a top-plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a view of the screw-cap to which is applied a modified form of relief valve. Fig. i is a bottom face view of'the same. Fig. 5 is respectively a central longitudinal section and a bottom face view of the flat spring valve.

In the drawing, 2 designates the body of an oil-can. 3 is the usual spring bottom of the can, which may be flexed to the extent shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, for forcing the contents of the can through a taper ing spout 4. The spout l is supported by a hollow screw-cap 5, the latter having a top 5 and a bottom 5 The spout 4 passes through the top 5' and its enlarged lower end is made rigid on the bottom 5, concentric to a circular opening or port 5". The can 2- is equipped with means for preventing leakage of its contents through the spout in case the can is upset, which consists of the following parts: 6 is a spherical valve,

Specification of Letters latent, Patgflted Oct, 11, 1921, Application filed August 7, 1820.,Serial No; 401,978. x i

which is disposed in the lower end of the spout l and is normally held seated in the port 5, by the tension of a coil spring 7, which extends between the ball 6 and an annular rib i. The ball 6 is unseated for the passage of the oil from the'body 2, by means of a rod 8, the latter being slidably supported by spaced guards 9 and 9, which are secured to the bottom 5 of the cap. The rod 8 is disposed in line axially with the body 2, the spout i, and the port 5 and its upper endloosely engages the ball 6., while its lower end is fitted with a button or knob S, which bears against the bot-tom 3. The rod 8 is moved endwise for opening the valve (3 by the inward flexing of the bottom 3, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1. From the foregoing it will be understood that whenever the pressure on the bottom 3 is relaxed. the latter moves outwardly and the spring 7 instantly closes the valve 6, and thus prevents any leakage of the contents of the can through the spout 4. This closing of the valve 6 and the outward flexing of the bottom 3, tends to create a vacuum in the body of the can, which prevents the free outflow of the oil when the can is Subse quently used. The presence of this vacuum renders the can more or less unreliable and slow to discharge the oil. The present invention has for its particular object to provide means for destroying the aforesaid vacuum, by providing a novel and simple relief valve, which will now be described:

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, l0 and 10 designate corresponding perforations in the top and bottom of the cap 5, and 11 represents a tube which spans the space between said perforations, so as to prevent commu nication with the interior of the cap. \Vithin the tube 11 is disposed a plunger valve 12, having a convex head 12, which is normally held seated in the perforation 10 by a coil spring 13, whose top end engages the head 12 of the valve, while the bottom end is supported by a narrow ledge 11 at the bottom of the tube. The spring 13 is preferably of delicate tension, barely enough to hold the head of the plunger12 in the seat 10, for preventing the escape of the oil when the can is inverted. By this construction and arrangement, the pull or suction produced by a vacuum in the body 2, combined with the pressure of the atmosphere, forces the valve 12 inwardly and breaks the vacuum, thus allowing the contents of the can to be freely expelled by the inward flexing of the bottom 8.

Referring to Figs. 3, 4 and 5, 11 represents a plain normally open tube which passes through the cap 5, for conducting air into the body of the can. 14 represents a fiat spring, preferably made of thin spring metal having but a slight tension. One end of the spring 14: is provided with a semispherical socket or boss 14, which is partially received in the lower end of the tube 11, while the opposite end of the said spring is rigidly secured to the bottom 5 of the cap. The slight tension of the spring 14 normally holds the ball 14 seated, as shown by full lines in Fig. 3. Whenever a vacuum forms in the can, the valve 14 is temporarily forced away from its seat (see dotted lines in Fig. 3), and admits atmospheric pressure for relieving the vacuum.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, is-

1. The combination with a can and a hollow cap, the latter having corresponding perforations, of a tube extending between said perforations, a valve disposed in said tube, and a spring having sufficient tension to normally hold said valve seated in one of said perforations.

2. The combination with the body of a can and. a hollow cap, the latter having corresponding perforations, of a tube disposed concentric to said perforations, a valve for controlling the passage of air through said In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

HARRY B. MILLER; 

